Teacher, I Need You Too
Elton John, Live in Lyon, France
May 25th, 1982

On the 30th anniversary of this show, I have finally decided to convert it from cassette, and release it. This was my 3rd Elton John concert, having seen him twice before in 1979 solo with Ray Cooper.
This concert is unique. During the song Teacher, I Need You, Elton passed out on stage! After a short time, he was revived, and not only played that song again, but completed the entire show! I honestly don't know how he did it. He tells the audience that it was too hot on the stage after he gets up to continue the show. (Well, he used the wrong word for stage, but we all knew what he meant.)
Elton speaks French (or tries to) during the entire show. His French is decent, but his mistakes are funny.
Song for Guy was a big hit in France. To this day, many people in France know that song. His first hit in France was Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word. He also had a minor hit with J'veux d'la Tendresse, the original French version of Nobody Wins. He sings that song mostly in English, and only goes into French at the end. I remember being surprised that he didn't sing it in French, since it was a current hit for him there.
The 1982 Jump Up! tour saw Elton back together with his original bandmates, Nigel Olsson on drums, and Dee Murray on the bass. Guitarist Davey Johnstone joined Elton during the recording of the Madman Across The Water album, and became a permanent band member as well. Elton plays the grand piano, a Fender Rhodes, and a Yamaha CP 80 electric baby grand.
The 4 piece band sounded incredible together. Elton even said that this was the only band I ever want to play with. As many Elton fans know, the 1982 tour is famous for having all of the songs played almost double time. EVERYTHING is way too fast. There are some real gems in this show though. Songs like Chloe, Where Have All The Good Times Gone, Teacher, I Need You, and Ball and Chain would rarely, if ever, be performed live again.
I was pressed against the metal barrier separating the crowd from the stage standing directly in front of the CP 80 and the Rhodes. My friend who recorded the show for me was much further back and in a raised section to try to get the best sound. It was a fairly good sized arena, and the quality of the recording reflects that. A good deal of echo and booming bass. I've done my best to raise the vocals and the piano and lower some of the bass using EQ only.
Unfortunately, my friend also thought he was doing me a favor by removing a lot of the applause between the songs. Occasionally, a song cuts in a split second after it starts. Additionally, he tried to manually control the recording levels at times. He would have been far better off just leaving them alone. I don't remember the specific equipment that he used, but I remember that it was recorded onto cassette with stereo mics. State of the art at the time.
This song was imported from my master cassettes onto a Mac Pro using Garage Band. EQ was added. If anyone feels that they can do a better job with the sound, you are more than welcome to work on it. I'm afraid I have no artwork for this show, but again, if someone with more talent than I have would like to create some, it would be most welcome.
Samples are provided.

The setlist is as follows...

Disc 1

001 Funeral For A Friend, Love Lies Bleeding
002 All The Girls Love Alice
003 Someone Saved My Life Tonight
004 Better Off Dead
005 Ball And Chain
006 Empty Garden
007 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
008 The Bitch Is Back
009 Song For Guy
010 Nobody Wins

Disc 2

011 Elton's Song
012 Chloe
013 Where To Now St. Peter
014 Band Intros
015 Blue Eyes
016 Where Have All The Good Times Gone
017 Rocket Man
018 Teacher I Need You
019 Elton Passes Out
020 Elton Returns
021 Teacher I Need You 2
022 Your Song
023 Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
024 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
025 Pinball Wizard
026 Daniel
027 Crocodile Rock